The clarichord, rest, clavicord or clarion is a rare charge

Charge (heraldry)

In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...

 in heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

 of uncertain origin and meaning. In Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 heraldry, it is the cadency

Cadency

In heraldry, cadency is any systematic way of distinguishing similar coats of arms belonging to members of the same family. Cadency is necessary in heraldic systems in which a given design may be owned by only one person at once...

 mark of a ninth daughter.

It has been said to represent a device to support a lance

Lance

A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...

, or a musical instrument

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

 such as a panpipe or the trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

-like clarion

Clarion (instrument)

Clarion is a common name for a trumpet in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It also is used as a name for a 4' organ reed stop. There is wide confusion over whether clarion invariably refers to a type of trumpet or simply the upper register of the standard trumpet....

. To add to the confusion, Claricord

Claricord

Claricord is a brand name of an adjustable strap worn around the neck to support the weight of a clarinet.* A Claricord is not the musical keyboard instrument known as the clavichord....

 is currently the brand name of an adjustable neckstrap used to support the weight of a clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

.

The use of this word for an instrument resembling a panpipe or clarion horn suggests it was a wind instrument. However, Webster's Dictionary

Webster's Dictionary

Webster's Dictionary refers to the line of dictionaries first developed by Noah Webster in the early 19th century, and also to numerous unrelated dictionaries that added Webster's name just to share his prestige. The term is a genericized trademark in the U.S.A...

 defines it as follows—clearly, not the same instrument referenced by this word in heraldry, as a spinet is a large, heavy instrument resembling a small upright piano with no resemblance to panpipes or trumpets at all:

1828 edition: CLARICHORD, n. A musical instrument in form of a spinet, called also manichord. It has forty nine or fifty stops or keys, and seventy strings; some of the latter being in unison. There are several little mortises for passing the jacks, armed with brass hooks, which stop and raise the chords, instead of the feather used in virginals

Virginals

The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...

 and spinet

Spinet

A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.-Spinets as harpsichords:While the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section...

s. The chords are covered with pieces of cloth, which deaden the sound and render it sweeter. Hence it is particularly used by nuns.

1913 edition: Clar"i*chord (?), n. [F. clatocorde, fr.L. clarus clear + chorda string. See Chord.] A musical instrument, formerly in use, in form of a spinet; -- called also manichord and clavichord

Clavichord

The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...

.

Clarion is also the label for a stop on an organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 which imitates the sound of a trumpet.

A verse of poetry published in 1568 does not do much to clarify the issue:

The claricord hath a tunely kynde

As the wyre is wrested hye and lowe

So it tuenyth to the players mynde

For as it is wrested so must it nedes showe

As by this reson ye may well know

Any Instrument mystunyd shall hurt a trew song

Yet blame not the claricord the wrester doth wrong.

Translation:
The claricord has a sweet tune

As the wire is tightened high and low

Thus is it tuned to the player's mind

For as it is tightened, so it must go

And by this reason, you must know

Any instrument mistuned shall hurt a true song

Yet blame not the claricord the tuner does wrong.

External links

• Clarion: illustration and discussion by François Velde. Accessed March 6, 2010.
• Clarion, Claricord, Organ Rest, Rest, Sufflue: illustration and brief description. Accessed March 6, 2010.
• The Meanings Behind the Symbols: Clarion: heraldic charge illustrated, and interpreted as meaning "ready for war." This meaning is compatible with the idiom
  Idiom
  Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
  
   clarion call, meaning an irresistible summons (as to war). Accessed March 6, 2010.
• Coats of arms of Case Western Reserve University
  Case Western Reserve University
  Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
  
  and its predecessors. The description of the arms used by the School of Applied Science / Case Institute of Technology (1942–1967) states in part:

  [T]he clarion (with bells rather than pipes), an ancient musical instrument, "recognized the inclusion of the classics, and the various cultural subjects in the curriculum."

  The quote within the quote is presumably from the original designer of these arms. Accessed March 6, 2010.